A cooking range having removable cooking units, each adapted to perform a specialized cooking function and alternately insertable into the range, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,375, assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
The present invention provides an improved selectively interchangeable cooking apparatus in that it can accommodate a deep fat fryer unit as one of the cooking units and permits use of alternate types of cooking units in the well or cavity of the fryer without first removing the frying oil from the fryer receptacle. The flexibility of the range in utilizing lift-out cooking units of differing, specialized cooking function is maintained, even though one of the alternate cooking units is a relatively large deepfat fryer. The arrangement is such as to further maintain the self-ventilating feature of the range. The placement of the ventilating air intake plenum directly adjoining the cavity which accommodates the deep-fat frying receptacle, with the plenum intake along one side margin of the receptacle, results in a grease droplet and odor entraining flow of ventilating air across the open top of the fryer receptacle. An optional grease shield plate may be utilized to horizontally overlie the pool of frying oil while other cooking units are in use. When extended vertically, the plate shields the adjacent wall area and may be provided with a hanger from which the conventional frying basket can be suspended in draining position.